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Profile
Tension persists with India over Kashmir and a nuclear arms race began after 'Pokhran nuclear explosions', though CBMs are in full swing.
Overview
Pakistan was born out of the partition of India in 1947. It was created to meet the demands of Indian Muslims 'for their own homeland'.
The erstwhile two parts: the east wing or present-day Bangladesh is on the Bay of Bengal bordering India and Burma and the west wing or present-day Pakistan stretches from the Himalayas down to the Arabian Sea.
Shortly after independence, India and Pakistan went to war over the disputed northern territory of Kashmir.
The two countries fought again in 1965. The war in 1971 led to the creation of Bangladesh. Alternating periods of civilian and military rule have not helped to establish stability in Pakistan.
Despite largely successful UN efforts at voluntary repatriation, thousands of Afghan refugees continue to reside in Pakistan.
Though General Musharraf pledged to revive the country's fortunes after the bloodless coup in 1999, but he faced economic challenges (and law and order problems mainly in the southern province of Sindh).
Tension also persists with India over Kashmir and a nuclear arms race began after Pokhran blasts, though CBMs are in full swing.
A short history of Pakistan
After All-India Muslim League (ML) was formed in 1906, initially, the League adopted the same objective as the Congress - self-government for India within the British Empire - but Congress and League were unable to agree on a formula that would 'ensure the protection of Muslim religious, economic and political rights'.
In 1919, limited forms of self-government were introduced. It was enlarged in 1935. In 1940, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, formally called for the creation of an independent state in regions where Muslims constituted a majority.
After World War II, Britain was set to grant India freedom, but the Congress Party and the Muslim League could not agree on establishing an interim government.
In 1947, Britain declared that it would bestow full dominion status upon two successor states: India and Pakistan (formed from areas in which Muslims were the majority population.) Under this arrangement, the various princely states could freely join either India or Pakistan.
Accordingly in 1947, the Dominion of Pakistan, comprising West Pakistan with the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), and East Pakistan with the province of Bengal, became independent.
The armed incursions into the Kashmir by tribesman from the NWFP led the maharaja of Kashmir to seek military help from India. The maharaja signed accession papers in 1947 and allowed Indian troops. Pakistan refused to recognise the accession.
Pakistan became a parliamentary democracy and Muhammad Ali Jinnah became the first governor general.
The first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan of the ML, was succeeded in 1951 by Khwaja Nazimuddin, in 1953 by Mohammad Ali Bogra and in 1956 by Chaudhry Mohammad Ali.
In 1956, Pakistan was renamed as Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In 1956, the Awami League took over the premiership and Husayn Sahid Suhrawardi became prime minister. He was succeeded in 1957 by Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar of the ML and later that year by Malik Firoz Khan Nun of the Jamhoori Watan Party (Republican Party, JWP).
When Pakistan became a republic, governor-general Iskander Mirza became president. In 1958, president Iskander Mirza, with the support of the Army, suspended the 1956 Constitution, imposed martial law, and canceled the scheduled polls. The country was renamed as Republic of Pakistan.
He was sent into exile by the Army and Mohammad Ayub Khan assumed control of a military dictatorship. Khan resigned in 1969 and handed over power to the Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan, who became president and chief martial law administrator.
General elections held in 1970 polarised relations between the eastern and western sections of Pakistan. The Awami League, which advocated autonomy for the more populous East Pakistan, swept the East Pakistan seats to gain a majority in Pakistan as a whole, while the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), founded and led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won a majority of the seats in West Pakistan.
When negotiations to form a coalition government broke down, a civil war ensued. With the support of India, East Pakistan became independent in 1971 as Bangladesh.
Yahya Khan resigned and handed over leadership of the western part of Pakistan to Bhutto, who became president and the first civilian chief martial law administrator.
In 1973, Bhutto promulgated a new Constitution and relinquished the presidency to become prime minister. When Bhutto proclaimed his own victory in the 1977 elections, the opposition Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) denounced the results as fraudulent and demanded new polls. Bhutto later arrested the PNA leadership.
Later that year the military removed Bhutto from power and Mohammad Zia ul-Haq seized power. Announced elections were annulled and Bhutto were convicted and sentenced to death for alleged conspiracy to murder a political opponent.
Zia assumed the presidency and banned political activity in 1979. During his rule between 1985 and 1988 Mohammad Khan Junejo of the PML was prime minister.
Zia died later in 1988 in an air crash. He was succeeded by Ghulam Ishaq Khan as acting president. He announced elections. The 1988 elections were won by the PPP and Benazir Bhutto formed a coalition government.
President Khan dismissed the Bhutto government in 1990 and after new elections, the Islamic Democratic Alliance (IJI), a multi-party coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), came to power. Mohammad Nawaz Sharif became prime minister. His government was quite successful, but in 1993 Khan sacked the Nawaz Sharif government.
This led to the resignation of both the president and the prime minister. An interim government, headed by Moeen Qureshi, took office.
The 1993 elections were won by the PPP. Benazir Bhutto formed a coalition government and her close associate Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari was elected president. However, in 1996 Leghari dismissed the Bhutto government, charging it with corruption and implication in extrajudicial killings in Karachi.
The 1997 elections were won by the Nawaz faction of the PML and Nawaz Sharif formed a government. Leghari resigned later that year and was succeeded by Rafiq Tarar.
In 1999, chief of Army staff Pervez Musharraf grabbed power in a military coup. He became chief executive. In 2001, Tarar quit and Musharrad became president.
A parliamentary model was introduced in 2002. After 2002 elections, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali of the pro-Mussarraf Quaid-i-Azam (like minded) faction of the PML became prime minister. He quit in 2004 and was succeeded by Chaudry Shujat Hussain.
Later Shaukat Aziz took over as Hussain was officiating as interim PM. Meanwhile, Pakistan passed a law enabling Musharraf to retain both the President's as well as Army chief's posts.
Facts
Population: 157 million (UN, 2004)
Capital: Islamabad
Area: 796,095 sq km (307,374 sq miles) (excluding Pakistani-held parts of Kashmir)
Major languages: Urdu (official), Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi and English
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 61 years (men), 61 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 Pakistani Rupee = 100 paisa
Main exports: Textile products, rice, cotton, leather goods
GNI per capita: US $470 (World Bank, 2003)
International dialling code: +92
